Ultimate exit feared if Athens issues second currency

Frankfurt

THE thinning oxygen supply to Greek banks could leave Athens with little choice but to introduce a form of second currency, European officials believe, a temporary means of freezing its membership of the bloc but one that risks its ultimate exit.

The idea of putting Greece's euro membership on hold - a temporary "Grexit" - was recently raised by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. Greeks say they have no intention of leaving the currency zone, temporarily or otherwise. But a suggestion by Yanis Varoufakis, who quit on Monday as Greece's finance minister, that Athens might issue IOUs like the state of California did during a budget impasse in 2009 could amount to the same thing.